which nad amp sholuld I get?

Well, I guess you have to put both your amp and your speakers into the equation. If your present setup is crapping out on orchestral peaks, you have a headroom problem that won't go away with only double the amplifier power. You will need more like six to ten times more.

(This is because of the dynamic range of an orchestral performance. Crescendos and tutti can pack a real wallop. For a peak that doubles volume for more than an instant, your amp needs to put out ten times the watts.)

B&W speakers are not known for their efficiency, and bookshelf designs in general tend to be a tad more power-hungry than larger ones. The solution may be to find a more powerful amp AND get more efficient speakers.

C352 floats my boat in my second system
Larry

Samuel:

It must get really loud in your listening room. I understand what Tobias is getting out in suggesting an amp that puts out 200 wpc or greater ... but that just sounds like overkill in a 11 X 12 room ... but the science requires that to double the volume you must double the power. I am assuming that your speakers are in B&W's 600 DM series, which are something like 88/89 db efficient and that you are looking for an amplifier in a complementary price range (stop me at any point if I am wrong).

If your current amp allows you to use its preamp section separate from the power amp and given that you like the NAD house sound, maybe the way to go is to try NAD's C272 power amp @150 wpc. If you can't go do the pre/power split, the C372 integrated amp @ 150 wpc may be the ticket.

Do you have a local NAD dealer who will allow you to try a home audition?

Regards, Rich

Thanks, I am not wondering about power,but do all nad amps sound the same? I will go listen.

The C320BEE is a wonderful sounding amp. If you want to know whether the 50 watts of the C320BEE is enough, do the following.

Buy a cheap digital multimeter which you can get for less than $20. Buy a test CD with a -20dB test tone, [probably better if it is not pink noise]. [I can help you if you cannot find one.]

Select the AC voltage scale on the multimeter that allows you to measure up to 2 volts or so. [Make sure you have selected the correct scale.] Place one of the multimeter test leads on one terminal of your speakers. Place the other on the other speaker terminal. Play the -20dB test tone, with the volume low and turn up the volume until the meter reads 1.4 volts. [If the meter gives no reading, do not just keep turning up the volume; find out what is wrong.] [If your speaker impedance drops below 4 ohms down to 2 at some frequencies, then you might want to stop at 1 volt instead.]

Once you have found the setting that gives 1.4 volts, leave the volume control there and play a bunch of CDs, taking notice of how loud the music is. If that is not loud enough, you will probably need more power than the C320BEE can deliver. It would be best to step up to at least 150 watts if you are going to step up at all. Note, if you play vinyl, you will probably need more power than if you play CDs because the warps eat up a lot of amp power.
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